Disclaimer: There are some sentences of this story that are Tolkien's work,
because I have based my story alongside his of the two towers and return of
the king. I have done this so I can stay as true as I can to his wonderful
story.
A/N: Hi everybody, here is chapter 2, exquisitely bettered by my beta Miriellar. Thank you so much! Thanks to all those who reviewed chapter 1! Well, I have tried to put in more descriptions, so please review to tell me what you think of them, and of the characters! Hope you all have fun reading it!
~
When Siawyn woke, the Dawn had only just broken. The barren countryside was shrouded in a grey mist, which hung in the air a pace above the cold dew ridden ground. The cloak that kept her warm was wet with dew; she stood and shook it out as best she could. The others were still sleeping, and there was still time for her to run away if she wanted. Siawyn decided against it, she had already been in Fangorn for what seemed like a week, and she did not wish to continue living there, especially with a meager supply of food.
In the bush where she had hidden, there were some small black berries, so Siawyn slipped quietly over to it.
"Trying to run away again are we?" Legolas' voice whispered in her ear. Siawyn ignored him and started picking away at the shriveled berries in front of her. She had become bored of them as they were one of her only food sources in the forest, and they were bitter, but they were food.
"No," she replied ruefully. Then paused, "Besides, there seems to be no chance of me escaping when there is an Elven Prince watching me incessantly. Do you never need any sleep?" Legolas smiled at her laced sarcasm as he reached over her shoulder and picked a small berry off the bush then took his place before the crackling fire. He ate it, but found that the taste left much to be desired.
"I prefer not to when there is a chance you are an enemy," he answered casually.
"Maybe I can settle that for you Legolas. If you think I am a spy of the Dark Lord Sauron, you are wrong. And I very much doubt that an Elven Prince would be a servant of his, so therefore we must be allies." Legolas seemed content with her answer.
Aragorn stirred on the cold ground where he had been sleeping, and sat up straight. He glanced over at Siawyn who was sitting with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, grey cloak still around her shoulders.
"Siawyn, you have missed much this night," Aragorn said drowsily. Siawyn gazed around at the landscape; nothing seemed different. "You must sleep like the dead," Siawyn frowned at the remark, then noticed some drag lines and upturned dirt not ten paces from the camp. She looked around, something was missing.
"The horses?!" she exclaimed anxiously.
"They dragged their pickets in the night," said Gimli drearily. They were on the eaves of Fangorn, and endless leagues lay between them and the Rohirrim, their only friends in this dangerous land.
"That was not the only account of what happened. An old man came, but said nothing, he just stood there, and then disappeared," Aragorn added.
"Saruman," Siawyn whispered.
"You know of him?" Legolas asked her suspiciously.
"Yes," she replied bluntly.
"Then you are a spy, a spy of his!" Legolas jumped to his feet, drawing one of his knives from its Elven sheath, but Siawyn looked appalled at the accusation.
"I know of him! I do not know him!" Siawyn replied loudly getting to her feet, and stepping closer to the suspicious elf. Legolas did not relax, or break his gaze. Aragorn stood between them, and then turned to Siawyn.
"What is it you know?" he asked calmly. Siawyn pulled her gaze from the fuming elf to Aragorn.
"I know he is the traitor," she spoke quietly through clenched teeth, "The traitor who must have led the attack on our defenseless village." Siawyn spat on the ground to avert the evil that the mention of his name might bring. Legolas relaxed and sheathed his knife, but did not apologize for his abrupt accusation.
Gimli grinned at his Elven friend. Legolas was not normally one to jump to conclusions, and he found the Elf's great dislike for the young girl amusing. "Do not forget about that old man!" said Gimli, "I should be happier if I could see the print of a boot."
"Why would that make you happy?" said Legolas, still frustrated with the heated argument.
"Because an old man with feet that leave marks might be no more then he seemed," said Gimli as he stamped his feet in the cold and flapped his arms, it had been a cold night and they had only had one blanket apiece.
"Maybe," said the Elf; "But a heavy print would leave no mark here: the grass is deep and would take much force to make a print."
"That would not baffle a ranger," Gimli continued, "Aragorn can read a bend in a blade; but I do not expect he will find anything, it was a phantom of Saruman I saw. For all we know he could be watching us now." Gimli looked around.
"That may well be true Gimli," said Aragorn, "but you said the horses must have been scared away. I do not agree though, as I did not hear the noises of terrified beasts in the night. There is no point in asking Siawyn though, as she slept quite happily through the whole thing." Aragorn grinned at her, and Siawyn smiled for what must have been the first time since they had met her the night before.
"I will have you know Aragorn that I was incredibly tired. Last night has been the first time I have slept properly for weeks!" Siawyn's eyes twinkled, now far more relaxed then she was, they were no longer dark with anger like they had been before.
"Legolas," Aragorn turned to the Elf, "did you hear the noises of a terrified beast?"
"No, I heard them clearly. But for the darkness and our fear, I should have guessed that they were beasts, wild with some sudden gladness. They spoke as horses will when they meet a friend they have long missed."
"I thought as much, but I cannot solve this riddle until they return. Come it is light let us search this ground for signs of our lost friends," said Aragorn as he dropped to his knees and began searching the ground for tell tale signs of what may have happened the day of the slaughter. Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas searched for some time. Siawyn stayed by the fire, packing away their belongings and blankets. She could be of no use to them in this search, as she did not know exactly what they were looking for.
"Here! At last we find news!" cried Aragorn to his searching friends. He was by the old watch-fire, and there was a broken brooch in his hands in the shape of a leaf. They were to far away for Siawyn to here them properly, but she could still hear them talking enthusiastically as they crawled along the ground, retracing the steps of their hobbit friends.
Siawyn had never seen a hobbit, only had she heard of one. They were the kind of beings she heard of in the tales she was told when she was younger. She had also had second thoughts about the existence of Elves, but that proof was in front of her now. Tall, elegant and skilful; Siawyn frowned, and arrogant and suspicious. Something told her that all Elves could not be like that. In her five years of training, Siawyn had been taught many things about the ways of Elves, as they were skilled with herbs and healing, and she admired them for that. This particular Elf was beginning to change her view on their race, but she decided not to view them all with only her judgement of him.
The company walked back towards her, each one looked happier after their search.
"What news do you have of your friends?" Siawyn asked Aragorn politely.
"We have found that they have escaped both the Orcs, and the Riders of Rohan!" said Aragorn cheerfully, "What luck they have! They then entered into the forest. We must follow them since need drove them into that dark place." Siawyn nodded.
"I do not know which daunts me more, Fangorn, or the thought of the long road through Rohan on foot," said Gimli, "but," he brightened, "we have a guide who has survived the darkness."
The company picked up their belongings. They picked up their belongings, put out the fire and started walking.
"Wait," said Siawyn as she darted off behind the bush she had been hiding behind previously. She reemerged with a long weapon carried like a staff in her right hand, base to the ground and blade in the air. It was a long wooden pole, decorated with intricate patterns, and on one end a sharp blade was attached to the wood. She span the whole thing in her hands absent mindedly, even though the deadly looking staff was as tall as her, and she walked back towards the group. The company watched in amazement, she was spinning it effortlessly, so skillful at it that she did not even have to concentrate. Legolas did his best to ignore her effectiveness with the weapon. In his mind, women should never be warriors, although he had met a few that had other ideas to that statement; and it seemed Siawyn was one of them.
"That is a nice weapon you have got there," said Gimli, not really knowing of what kind it was, Legolas was also puzzled, but he had seen something of that kind before. Siawyn smiled and stopped spinning it, using it like a staff to pick her way through the stones back towards them. She pulled Aragorn's cloak over her head and offered it back to him. Aragorn refused, it did not look like her dress was particularly warm.
He took the staff from her to get a good look. The wood was light but extremely hard, and in some parts it looked like it was made with a kind of silver metal. It was decorated with writing of gold, but in a lot of places it was green and brown, blending it into the user's background, eliminating the chances of being detected. The blade was sharp and fashioned to be the shape of a leaf, and in some parts the edge pointed, the effect was useful in inflicting as much damage into the enemy as possible.
Aragorn tried to swing it, but found that using the weapon needed a lot of practice. "I think I will stick to my sword and daggers," Aragorn said cheerfully as he handed Siawyn's weapon back to her. He was worried that if he swung it, he might accidentally injure someone, or himself. Siawyn laughed.
"This weapon demands a lot of practice, Aragorn. I was taught to use it, and had to practice with it every day, for the past ten years of my life," she brushed the patterns on the pole with her finger tips then pointed the blade of the staff towards the forest. "Well it seems as good a time as any to head off." She said and then walked alongside Aragorn, making sure her staff was not aimed at a tree. Her first experience with the trees had made her more wary of her blade and its victims.
The trees did not like sharp objects, or Gimli's metal axe, which he kept defensively by his side as he walked. ~ A/N: So what do you think of chapter 2? Please review to tell me!
A/N: Hi everybody, here is chapter 2, exquisitely bettered by my beta Miriellar. Thank you so much! Thanks to all those who reviewed chapter 1! Well, I have tried to put in more descriptions, so please review to tell me what you think of them, and of the characters! Hope you all have fun reading it!
~
When Siawyn woke, the Dawn had only just broken. The barren countryside was shrouded in a grey mist, which hung in the air a pace above the cold dew ridden ground. The cloak that kept her warm was wet with dew; she stood and shook it out as best she could. The others were still sleeping, and there was still time for her to run away if she wanted. Siawyn decided against it, she had already been in Fangorn for what seemed like a week, and she did not wish to continue living there, especially with a meager supply of food.
In the bush where she had hidden, there were some small black berries, so Siawyn slipped quietly over to it.
"Trying to run away again are we?" Legolas' voice whispered in her ear. Siawyn ignored him and started picking away at the shriveled berries in front of her. She had become bored of them as they were one of her only food sources in the forest, and they were bitter, but they were food.
"No," she replied ruefully. Then paused, "Besides, there seems to be no chance of me escaping when there is an Elven Prince watching me incessantly. Do you never need any sleep?" Legolas smiled at her laced sarcasm as he reached over her shoulder and picked a small berry off the bush then took his place before the crackling fire. He ate it, but found that the taste left much to be desired.
"I prefer not to when there is a chance you are an enemy," he answered casually.
"Maybe I can settle that for you Legolas. If you think I am a spy of the Dark Lord Sauron, you are wrong. And I very much doubt that an Elven Prince would be a servant of his, so therefore we must be allies." Legolas seemed content with her answer.
Aragorn stirred on the cold ground where he had been sleeping, and sat up straight. He glanced over at Siawyn who was sitting with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, grey cloak still around her shoulders.
"Siawyn, you have missed much this night," Aragorn said drowsily. Siawyn gazed around at the landscape; nothing seemed different. "You must sleep like the dead," Siawyn frowned at the remark, then noticed some drag lines and upturned dirt not ten paces from the camp. She looked around, something was missing.
"The horses?!" she exclaimed anxiously.
"They dragged their pickets in the night," said Gimli drearily. They were on the eaves of Fangorn, and endless leagues lay between them and the Rohirrim, their only friends in this dangerous land.
"That was not the only account of what happened. An old man came, but said nothing, he just stood there, and then disappeared," Aragorn added.
"Saruman," Siawyn whispered.
"You know of him?" Legolas asked her suspiciously.
"Yes," she replied bluntly.
"Then you are a spy, a spy of his!" Legolas jumped to his feet, drawing one of his knives from its Elven sheath, but Siawyn looked appalled at the accusation.
"I know of him! I do not know him!" Siawyn replied loudly getting to her feet, and stepping closer to the suspicious elf. Legolas did not relax, or break his gaze. Aragorn stood between them, and then turned to Siawyn.
"What is it you know?" he asked calmly. Siawyn pulled her gaze from the fuming elf to Aragorn.
"I know he is the traitor," she spoke quietly through clenched teeth, "The traitor who must have led the attack on our defenseless village." Siawyn spat on the ground to avert the evil that the mention of his name might bring. Legolas relaxed and sheathed his knife, but did not apologize for his abrupt accusation.
Gimli grinned at his Elven friend. Legolas was not normally one to jump to conclusions, and he found the Elf's great dislike for the young girl amusing. "Do not forget about that old man!" said Gimli, "I should be happier if I could see the print of a boot."
"Why would that make you happy?" said Legolas, still frustrated with the heated argument.
"Because an old man with feet that leave marks might be no more then he seemed," said Gimli as he stamped his feet in the cold and flapped his arms, it had been a cold night and they had only had one blanket apiece.
"Maybe," said the Elf; "But a heavy print would leave no mark here: the grass is deep and would take much force to make a print."
"That would not baffle a ranger," Gimli continued, "Aragorn can read a bend in a blade; but I do not expect he will find anything, it was a phantom of Saruman I saw. For all we know he could be watching us now." Gimli looked around.
"That may well be true Gimli," said Aragorn, "but you said the horses must have been scared away. I do not agree though, as I did not hear the noises of terrified beasts in the night. There is no point in asking Siawyn though, as she slept quite happily through the whole thing." Aragorn grinned at her, and Siawyn smiled for what must have been the first time since they had met her the night before.
"I will have you know Aragorn that I was incredibly tired. Last night has been the first time I have slept properly for weeks!" Siawyn's eyes twinkled, now far more relaxed then she was, they were no longer dark with anger like they had been before.
"Legolas," Aragorn turned to the Elf, "did you hear the noises of a terrified beast?"
"No, I heard them clearly. But for the darkness and our fear, I should have guessed that they were beasts, wild with some sudden gladness. They spoke as horses will when they meet a friend they have long missed."
"I thought as much, but I cannot solve this riddle until they return. Come it is light let us search this ground for signs of our lost friends," said Aragorn as he dropped to his knees and began searching the ground for tell tale signs of what may have happened the day of the slaughter. Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas searched for some time. Siawyn stayed by the fire, packing away their belongings and blankets. She could be of no use to them in this search, as she did not know exactly what they were looking for.
"Here! At last we find news!" cried Aragorn to his searching friends. He was by the old watch-fire, and there was a broken brooch in his hands in the shape of a leaf. They were to far away for Siawyn to here them properly, but she could still hear them talking enthusiastically as they crawled along the ground, retracing the steps of their hobbit friends.
Siawyn had never seen a hobbit, only had she heard of one. They were the kind of beings she heard of in the tales she was told when she was younger. She had also had second thoughts about the existence of Elves, but that proof was in front of her now. Tall, elegant and skilful; Siawyn frowned, and arrogant and suspicious. Something told her that all Elves could not be like that. In her five years of training, Siawyn had been taught many things about the ways of Elves, as they were skilled with herbs and healing, and she admired them for that. This particular Elf was beginning to change her view on their race, but she decided not to view them all with only her judgement of him.
The company walked back towards her, each one looked happier after their search.
"What news do you have of your friends?" Siawyn asked Aragorn politely.
"We have found that they have escaped both the Orcs, and the Riders of Rohan!" said Aragorn cheerfully, "What luck they have! They then entered into the forest. We must follow them since need drove them into that dark place." Siawyn nodded.
"I do not know which daunts me more, Fangorn, or the thought of the long road through Rohan on foot," said Gimli, "but," he brightened, "we have a guide who has survived the darkness."
The company picked up their belongings. They picked up their belongings, put out the fire and started walking.
"Wait," said Siawyn as she darted off behind the bush she had been hiding behind previously. She reemerged with a long weapon carried like a staff in her right hand, base to the ground and blade in the air. It was a long wooden pole, decorated with intricate patterns, and on one end a sharp blade was attached to the wood. She span the whole thing in her hands absent mindedly, even though the deadly looking staff was as tall as her, and she walked back towards the group. The company watched in amazement, she was spinning it effortlessly, so skillful at it that she did not even have to concentrate. Legolas did his best to ignore her effectiveness with the weapon. In his mind, women should never be warriors, although he had met a few that had other ideas to that statement; and it seemed Siawyn was one of them.
"That is a nice weapon you have got there," said Gimli, not really knowing of what kind it was, Legolas was also puzzled, but he had seen something of that kind before. Siawyn smiled and stopped spinning it, using it like a staff to pick her way through the stones back towards them. She pulled Aragorn's cloak over her head and offered it back to him. Aragorn refused, it did not look like her dress was particularly warm.
He took the staff from her to get a good look. The wood was light but extremely hard, and in some parts it looked like it was made with a kind of silver metal. It was decorated with writing of gold, but in a lot of places it was green and brown, blending it into the user's background, eliminating the chances of being detected. The blade was sharp and fashioned to be the shape of a leaf, and in some parts the edge pointed, the effect was useful in inflicting as much damage into the enemy as possible.
Aragorn tried to swing it, but found that using the weapon needed a lot of practice. "I think I will stick to my sword and daggers," Aragorn said cheerfully as he handed Siawyn's weapon back to her. He was worried that if he swung it, he might accidentally injure someone, or himself. Siawyn laughed.
"This weapon demands a lot of practice, Aragorn. I was taught to use it, and had to practice with it every day, for the past ten years of my life," she brushed the patterns on the pole with her finger tips then pointed the blade of the staff towards the forest. "Well it seems as good a time as any to head off." She said and then walked alongside Aragorn, making sure her staff was not aimed at a tree. Her first experience with the trees had made her more wary of her blade and its victims.
The trees did not like sharp objects, or Gimli's metal axe, which he kept defensively by his side as he walked. ~ A/N: So what do you think of chapter 2? Please review to tell me!